Graham Fenton takes long trip down memory lane as North Shields head south for Wembley date

LIFE BEYOND THE PREMIER LEAGUE

Graham Fenton is tackled by Manchester United’s Steve Bruce at Wembley in the 1994 League Cup final, which Aston Villa won 3-1 (GETTY IMAGES)

The 39-seater team bus drops down a gear to combat the driving rain on the A69. It is an unforgiving road and it is unforgiving weather. Even on the inside, it feels windy.

The driver hits the accelerator, the engine yelps and there is surprise as the coach rises to the challenge. Before reaching the junction that leads into Carlisle, he will need to go a little heavy with the brake.

Andy Bowman, the assistant manager of North Shields, is stood in the aisle eating a tuna baguette and trying to remember the 22 men who played in the 1994 League Cup final. He is dragged five feet backwards.

“Jesus, I just moonwalked,” he says. The baguette survives. There is laughter. There will be lots of it. He can name 20, two short.

“Earl Barrett and Shaun Teale,” comes the voice of the North Shields manager, Graham Fenton. He was a 19-year-old forward when he appeared at Wembley for Aston Villa and faced a Manchester United side armed with Eric Cantona and Roy Keane.

There was laughter on the Villa team bus that headed to the final that day too. Ron Atkinson, then in charge at Villa Park, had hired Stan Boardman.

“It was Ron’s way of lightening the mood, of stopping the intensity in the pre-match build-up,” says Fenton. “It worked brilliantly. He even came in the dressing room at the ground, doing all sorts of stupid juggling tricks.

“We went down on the Friday and went out for a meal. The atmosphere was really good. Again, Ron being Ron, he said, ‘Lads, you can have a couple of drinks if you want’.”

By then Fenton had been told he would be preferred to Ray Houghton and Dwight Yorke. It was 1994, he was a rising star who would win his first cap for the England Under-21s six months after the final.

“My mentality at the time was, I don’t care how good Man United are,” he says. “We thought we were as good. That belief was instilled in us from Ron.

“I did my job well. I broke it up and I was a pest for their midfield. I was involved in the first goal. That was a big moment.”

Aston Villa, Big Ron and Fents would win the League Cup 3-1. “It was just jubilation,” he adds. “You get the trophy, hold it aloft in the royal box and it is a mad feeling.

“Paul Barron pulled me over and said, ‘Take five minutes to realise where you are and what you’ve achieved.’ All the supporters had gone. I was at the end of the tunnel, just taking everything in. Medal in one hand, shin pads in the other. It was my lasting memory of Wembley.”

Fenton will return there tomorrow, this time leading out a team in the FA Vase final, where his side will face Glossop North End.

It is three years since he took over at North Shields. Crowds have increased four-fold. Last season they won the Northern League Second Division by 10 points, with 141 goals. This time they challenged for the title, coming fourth in the First Division.

When the team bus rolled into Celtic Nation for their final league game, it offered a stark contrast. After a reckless investment spree from a US-based tycoon, the host team will fold. Shields, with young, hungry players earning £50 per week, win and ready themselves for the capital. The excitement on the bus home is tangible.

After his big-money moves to Blackburn (£1.5m) and Leicester (£1.1m) Fenton fell out of love with football. “I had six or seven years of not enjoying it,” he admits. “I had nine years that I loved, I was playing with fantastic footballers, I was working for good coaches. I never got that feeling again. I was probably at fault for a lot of it. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t play well.”

He went down through the leagues and, finally, back to the North-east. Along with managing North Shields – with a Uefa B licence – he has, for five years, been a coach at Monkseaton Academy, recent winners of the English Schools Football Association national title at Under-18 level. “I really enjoy it,” he adds. “We provide a platform for young players to learn the game.”

Tomorrow his squad will climb on to a bus that is usually used by Newcastle United, paid for by their defender Steven Taylor. There will be tables and toilets – and no standing in the aisles.

“If we win, I will say to the lads, ‘Take some time to yourself, let it sink in. Make sure you don’t forget it’.”